After suffering a thigh injury in the dying minutes of England’s 1-0 win over Austria on Wednesday, Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out of Euro 2020. The setback has devastated the Liverpool right-back, who will be out for four to six weeks. Gareth Southgate will have to opt for a replacement after a protracted debate over whether Alexander-Arnold would be included in the group and surprise at the selection of four right-backs.
The standby list features James Ward-Prowse, Jesse Lingard, and Ollie Watkins. Ward-Prowse seems to be the frontrunner, since the England boss only has four true central midfielders, one of whom, Jordan Henderson, is a doubt for Sunday’s encounter against Croatia.
Southgate will not make his decision until after the match against Romania on Sunday. However, the backup players, who are all expected to stay with the group for the final warm-up encounter, will be able to train with increased intensity due to the delay. The other outfield choices are Ben White and Ben Godfrey.
The FA reported about Trent’s case, stating: “A scan on Thursday confirmed the 22-year-old will be unable to play in the forthcoming tournament so has withdrawn from the England squad to return to his club for rehabilitation.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had a rather difficult season with Liverpool in the Premier League and other competitions, was initially not included in the England squad by Gareth Southgate. However, the England head coach is always present as a spectator in the stands in Premier League matches to keep an eye on his squad players and potential prospects.
England’s squad is particularly stacked when it comes to right fullbacks, including Reece James of Chelsea, Kieran Trippier of Atletico Madrid, and Kyle Walker of Manchester City. It was already seemingly difficult for the Liverpool right-back to get the starting spot since all three of them had better seasons and have a trophy each to prove that. Nonetheless, Trent fell out of luck even after finally cutting.
